Livestock Antibiotics

Certain diseases have been becoming immune to antibiotics due to the antibiotics being fed to livestock, which now poses a major threat to the health of animals and humans alike. However, many steps are being taken to prevent any further spread of the issue.

Since the 1960s, livestock farms have used antibiotics in order to help prevent the spread of disease within animals, and the antibiotics cause them to gain more weight at a faster rate. By the 1980s, use of antibiotics had nearly doubled, and in America today, 80% of the antibiotics sold are being used on livestock. But this has sparked problems, as the use of antibiotics only trained the diseases to become resistant.

“Antibiotic resistance occurs when bacteria acquire genetic changes that enable them to survive exposure to antibiotics that would normally kill them or inhibit their growth,” explained Peter Evancho, J.D. ScM, “This process is accelerated by selective pressure from antibiotic use in humans, animals, and agriculture.”

This process, once started, is almost impossible to reverse. However, it is preventable. Experts recommend the One Health approach, which, among many other things, monitors the resistant genes created in livestock farms. Traces of the resistant bacteria have been found all across these farms, in the animals, and even in the meat produced there.

“Meat can act as a vehicle for resistance genes to enter human populations,” Evancho said. Since the bacteria originated in the animals, the meat they produce can carry these diseases as well. Even just touching raw meat could be enough to transmit some. If the resistant bacteria continues to spread and reproduce, the consequences could be catastrophic.

"There’s going to be some super-bug, where there is nothing that could actually kill that bacteria,” said Newtown High School science teacher Jeanette Roderick. “They are going to be resistant to the antibiotics.” 

This means that many common diseases that are now easily killed by antibiotics, could be much more threatening in the future.

There are ways that we can control it. Many steps are already being taken in the medical community. The use of antibiotics is being limited, and all prescriptions must be completed to ensure that the bacteria is dead. Another contributor to this threat might also be the pure lack of knowledge about its existence. A lot of livestock farmers do not realize just how dangerous the resistance is getting. 

With these diseases only getting stronger, medical bills may start to rise as well, along with the length of hospital stays. 

“It also threatens the effectiveness of medical procedures that rely on antibiotics for infection prevention, such as surgery and chemotherapy,” Evancho warned. This could put the health of people all across the globe in jeopardy.

“There is no risk to humans unless that bacteria mutates… the only risk is if it mutates or jumps from species to species,” Roderick explained. We aren’t in any serious danger at the moment, but all these risks still hang over us. With time, the mutations will only get stronger, and some diseases will truly become incurable.